Reading how Fanatics is paying for LeBron’s helicopter rides back and forth from NYC to Philly, it reminded me of the speculation about Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin’s role in convincing James Harden to take a paycut to stay in Philly.

Shams explicitly credited Rubin for helping convince Harden to take a paycut.

Rubin sold his share in the Sixers, and Harden is an investor and endorser in Rubin’s company Fanatics. Rubin is from Philly and is a huge fan.

Rubin at the MIT Sloan Conference:

Speaking at the MIT Sloan Conference Friday morning, Rubin quipped that he was “violating every rule the NBA had” while part of the Sixers’ ownership group. That included taking bets on the Sixers when Fanatics entered that space, and having NBA players such as Joel Embiid, James Harden, LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant as Fanatics investors.

”If you look through the rules of the leagues, it didn’t work for me to own part of a team,” Rubin said. “It was holding back Fanatics. It was a great privilege and honor to be a part of. … I learned a lot. I got a lot of great experience, and it was definitely time for me to move on.

Rubin, a Philly native, called himself “probably as involved as any third-largest owner of a sports team” while with the Sixers from 2011-22. He said Joe Tsai, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft helped persuade him to step away because it was a “distraction to such a big opportunity that you have with Fanatics.”

And Rubin throwing more gas on the fire:

Rubin might no longer have a financial stake in HBSE, which was recently valued as being worth $3 billion. But he said his allegiance to the Sixers and interest in helping them achieve their goal will remain the same.

“I’ll probably go to less games, but when there’s something going down that’s massive, I’ll stop what I’m doing to help. That’s who I am. That’s what I like doing,” he said. “I consider Josh [Harris] and Blitzer to be family. I consider Joel [Embiid] and James [Harden] to be family. And I look at Daryl and [head coach] Doc [Rivers] the same way. I have a lot of investment in the group and will do whatever I can to help those guys in whatever small way I can.”

One key question moving forward is what that help will look like now that Rubin no longer has to abide by league rules. As one high-ranking sports business executive who has worked with numerous NBA teams said, “He’s the biggest player in our business. Nobody has the relationships that he does. Nobody can connect with people on both the ownership side and player side like him.

“And in a player-run league like the NBA, I really do think he can be a competitive advantage.”

To that point, according to multiple sources, the league office recently told Harris that Rubin, freed from the constraints of the league’s collective bargaining agreement and anti-tampering laws, will be able to help the Sixers more than ever.